Urine| Hair Follicle | Oral Fluid | Blood | ETG
Hair analysis is recognized as an effective means for identifying drug and alcohol consumption. The long-term record provided by hair is due to the entrapment of biomarkers within the fibers of the developing hair strand. Hair collected near the scalp can reveal a drug and alcohol use pattern for up to approximately three months. Collecting hair is straightforward, somewhat tamper-resistant, and easy to transport.
A sample comprising 1.5 inches of roughly 200 hair strands (equivalent to the size of a #2 pencil) nearest to the scalp will yield 100mg, which is the preferred quantity for both screening and confirmation. For EtG, additional tests, or tests exceeding 10 panels, a sample size of 150mg is advised. Utilizing a jeweler’s scale to weigh the specimen is suggested. Should scalp hair be absent, a corresponding quantity of body hair can be gathered. When we mention head hair, we mean only the scalp hair. Body hair encompasses all other types like facial and axillary hair.
Process Overview
The laboratory processing of drug test results typically involves four primary stages: Accessioning, Screening, Extraction, and Confirmation.
Accessioning is concerned with the initial handling of a sample when it enters a laboratory's system. It involves confirming that the sample is properly sealed and shipped, generating a random LAN (Laboratory Accessioning Number), and completing any further data entry that isn't provided by an electronic chain of custody system.
Screening is a preliminary drug check procedure. While Screening is an economical way to eliminate drug usage for the majority of samples, a positive result from the Screening must be verified for judicial acceptability. Samples that test positive during Screening need a secondary confirmation.
If a sample is deemed presumptively positive during Screening, additional hair is extracted from the original specimen for the Extraction phase. In this phase, the drugs are isolated from hair at much lower levels than other methods like urine or oral fluid, which makes hair drug screening the most challenging technique to execute.
GC/MS, GC/MS/MS or LC/MS/MS techniques are employed for the Confirmation of any positive Screening results. All samples indicated as presumptive positive undergo washing before the Confirmation step as necessary. The entire lab sequence from Accessioning to Confirmation is inspected under both the CAP (College of American Pathologists) Hair designation and ISO / IEC 17025 standards accreditation.
Advantages of hair drug testing:
Limitations:
Note: Although commonly called "hair follicle tests", the actual analysis examines the hair strand rather than the hair follicle located beneath the scalp.
Why Hair Follicle Testing Beats Urine Testing in Greenville, KY
Extended Detection Window in Greenville, KY
Tamper-Resistant Testing Method in Greenville, KY
Convenient Nationwide Testing Locations and Local Locations in Greenville, KY
Simple, Confidential Process in Greenville, KY
Affordable Pricing and Fast Turnaround in Greenville, KY
Fast, Accurate, and Reliable Results in Greenville, KY
Compliance and Peace of Mind for Employers in Greenville, KY